MBT-70
Available to NATO forces, the MBT-70 is an American main battle tank. The MBT-70 will allow the access to unlock the KPz 70, a West German variant of the MBT. Overview The MBT-70 is fairly advanced for a NATO tank of its era, and has an interesting mix of features such as its 20mm autocannon and 152mm munitions. While its Shillelagh-C missiles are of average accuracy and in short supply, they have a long range and very high anti-armor capability, making the MBT-70 good at countering enemy vehicles, tanks in particular, at least while stationary at long distances for a vehicle of its cost range. The missiles are effective and long ranged enough to be a significant threat to even the most heavily armored and advanced tanks. Because the MBT-70 only carries up to 6 at a time, it is good practice to keep it near a supply source. The 152mm cannon shells are effective against all ground targets within range, but their main advantage over other tank cannons of the era are their improved HE potential, making them more effective in the anti-infantry role. Its main disadvantage is its shorter range than other tank cannons and its under-average armor piercing ability with a rating of only 6. The 20mm autocannon is effective against all target types to a degree and is especially useful at repelling groups of light vehicles and aircraft that get within range, but they are still an effective complement in the anti-armor role as they have some minor AP ability and are useful for demoralizing and stunning enemies. As a tank the MBT-70 has a mid-high pricing range of 75 deployment points, its main advantages being the good range and high power of its ATGMs against all types of armor, making it in some ways more effective against enemy tanks than the KPz 70. It is, however, much more resource-demanding than its more expensive counterpart as well since it only holds 6 missiles, the accuracy of the missiles are less than the KPz cannon at 6 instead of 7, and they take up more supply points each than the 120mm gun used by the KPz 70. It has a bad stabilizer, allowing it to fire on the move with minor effectiveness. Its frontal armor is a solid 7, its side armor is barely acceptable for a tank in its price range at a low 3. All in all, it can be a very effective vehicle when used properly in the anti-armor role, being good at defending open terrain from approaching tanks when supported by scouting vehicles and supplies to keep its few missiles stocked. It's also better at defending itself from helicopters due to it using an autocannon instead of a machine-gun. For all other roles it is average or poor for a tank in its price range. History In the early 1960s the German Leopard 1 and the US M60A1 Patton were the newest main battle tanks in their respective country's service. While designed to counter the T-54/55 tanks, both tanks were placed at a disadvantage by the new smoothbore gun fielded in the T-62. It became clear that the next generation of Soviet tanks would have increased firepower and protection. An upgrade project for the Leopard was planned, the German project being KPz 70 and America MBT-70, but it appeared this model would not be enough of an advance to be worthwhile. To solve the problem in the tank forces, Germany and the United States had a memorandum of understanding to develop a common new tank for both armies. However, this may have been one of the worst things to happen to the project, as both teams started "pulling" the design in their own directions. Arguments arose over almost every part of the design: the gun, the engine, even whether or not the design would use metric or SAE measurements. This last dispute was eventually "settled" by using both systems, thereby increasing costs considerably. In 1969 West Germany halted on their part of the project but the Americans continued the project until 1971 when the US Congress terminated the MBT-70 project altogether but its legacy lives on with the American M1 Abrams and the German Leopard 2. Weapons European Escalation Take note that the Shillelagh-C has absolutely no use against infantry whatsoever even if you use it against them. Red Dragon See Also *Wikipedia: MBT-70 *M1 Abrams & Leopard 2 - Successors *KPz 70 - German variation of MBT-70 Category:Main Battle Tank Prototypes Category:European Escalation vehicles Category:European Escalation tanks Category:AirLand Battle tanks Category:Red Dragon tanks